Tradition

I am so ready to turn the page past 2011.  If you know me, you know I had a pretty bad year.  I am grateful that I have the wherewithall to know that I am also very blessed.  Was it a shitty year?  Yes, but it could have been worse.  I still have a job, I have a home, and I have a strong family and amazing friends.  Without those things, especially the friends and family, I don't know if I would have made it through the past 12 months relatively unscathed.

There will be no new big resolutions from me, I made mine while cruising around Glacier Bay National Park in June and have stuck to it.  To be a better person, that's my resolution.  I've worked to be healthier, taking up running and I've dropped 2 pant sizes.  I've worked to be a happier person, realizing that my happiness is primarily in my own hands.  I resolved to travel more, and while that hasn't happened yet, I have made a big effort to earn extra money for it to happen eventually.  Another resolution (trying to get to a point here) was to make sure this blog didn't become a job.  I wanted to keep it a hobby, I've known too many hockey bloggers--great and wonderful writers--who have stopped writing because it became a job, something they HAD to do, not something they WANTED to do anymore.  So I'm writing when I want to.  Yes, readership has dropped some, but I'm ok with that because I'm writing what and when I want to--for me.  

To those of you who have stuck around, thank you.  No really, I am truly grateful, because I really do enjoy doing this, and I love that people hang around.

Ok, sappiness over.  IT'S GAME DAY.  The annual NYE game against Spokane.  I've got hockey tummy already.  There's nothing on the Herald's sports site yet so I'll make up some quotes.

"It's going to be a good game, it's always intense against Spokane."  said captain Mason Wilgosh.  "There will be a lot of energy in the building which is great, we always feed off the crowd."

Coach Jim Hiller is staying focused on the game plan. "Shutting the Chiefs down early is obviously a priority," says Hiller.  "We need to get on the board early, get the lively crowd into it."

Jordan Messier remembers last year's game, "We're hoping for no more gaping holes in the ice, that was pretty miserable.  I'm also not going to get in any fights tonight, gotta protect my noggin."

"I know, I'm a damn sexy defenceman" said Derek Ryckman.  "Just another day."  

I love making up quotes.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve.  Remember to not drink and drive, AAA has free "tipsy towing" even if you aren't a AAA member, take advantage of it (call 1-800-222-4357 (AAA-HELP), tell the operator, "I need a Tipsy Tow," and the truck will come to collect you and your vehicle.  The offer is good to both AAA members and non-members. The service offers a free, one-way tow up to 10 miles for the driver and additional passengers if there is space in the tow truck..

Remember to tell those around you that you love them, and not just the drunken "I love you man" stuff, really mean it.  May you and yours have a very wonderful 2012, because if nothing else, it looks like our hockey team is going to start off the year on the right note--1st place overall hell yeah!!

Now I'm off to get my two-sizes-smaller-but-still-fat ass on the treadmill!  Yay resolutions!!